Enhancing Wi-Fi aware protocol and algorithms for drone cluster formation

ABSTRACT

At least three different techniques are presented that facilitate cluster formation in clusterable devices such as drones. The techniques facilitate power saving in the individual clusterable devise as well as for the entirety of the cluster. The first technique utilizes a NAN application based cluster formation decision. The second technique initiates a cluster grade merging evaluation based on a “merge allowed” field in a synchronization beacon set by the discovery engine. The third technique involves a discovery engine managing cluster formation with pre-set cluster grade information.

TECHNICAL FIELD

An exemplary aspect is directed toward communications systems. Morespecifically an exemplary aspect is directed toward wirelesscommunications systems and even more specifically to IEEE (Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11 wireless communicationssystems. Even more specifically, exemplary aspects are at least directedtoward one or more of IEEE (Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers) 802.11ac/an/ax/ay communications systems, 60 GHzcommunications systems, mmWave communications systems, IEEE 802.11TGaycommunications, MU-MIMO communications systems and in general anywireless communications system or protocol, including WiGig, 4G, 4G LTE,5G and later, and the like. Exemplary aspects are further directedtoward incorporating the technology discussed herein into neighbouraware networking (NAN) devices, cluster formation devices, droneclusters, IoT devices, and in general any wireless device(s).

BACKGROUND

Wireless networks transmit and receive information utilizing varyingtechniques and protocols. For example, but not by way of limitation, twocommon and widely adopted techniques used for communication are thosethat adhere to the Institute for Electronic and Electrical Engineers(IEEE) 802.11 standards such as the IEEE 802.11n standard, the IEEE802.11ac standard and the IEEE 802.11ax standard.

The IEEE 802.11 standards specify a common Medium Access Control (MAC)Layer which provides a variety of functions that support the operationof IEEE 802.11-based Wireless LANs (WLANs) and devices. The MAC Layermanages and maintains communications between IEEE 802.11 stations (suchas between radio network interface cards (NIC) in a PC or other wirelessdevice(s) or stations (STA) and access points (APs)) by coordinatingaccess to a shared radio channel and utilizing protocols that enhancecommunications over a wireless medium.

IEEE 802.11ax is the successor to 802.11ac and is proposed to increasethe efficiency of WLAN networks, especially in high density areas likepublic hotspots and other dense traffic areas. IEEE 802.11ax also usesorthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA), and related toIEEE 802.11ax, the High Efficiency WLAN Study Group (HEW SG) within theIEEE 802.11 working group is considering improvements to spectrumefficiency to enhance system throughput/area in high density scenariosof APs (Access Points) and/or STAs (Stations).

Millimeter wave (mmWave) wireless technology generally corresponds tothe portion of the radio spectrum between 30 GHz to 300 GHz, withcorresponding wavelengths between one and ten millimeters. For wirelesscommunications, mmWave currently corresponds to bands of spectrum near38 GHz, 60 GHx and 94 GHz, and in particular to bands between 70 GHz and90 GH.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs or drones) are becoming far morefrequently used by government, corporations and private parties. Dronescan be especially practical in scenarios where humans could be at riskor drones are more efficient than manned counterparts. Multi-dronesystems exist that partner a plurality of drones to operate as ahomogeneous “system” to more efficiently and economically complete atask as compared to single drone.

Drones can communicate over one or more wireless networks as listedabove. Additionally, drones can communicate with one another over one ormore networks where these networks can be grouped into clusters. Withineach of these clusters, only the drone designated as the cluster headwould have network connections outside of the cluster. The cluster headis then equipped to disseminates data to the other drones in the clusterby broadcasting to the other drones or nodes within the cluster.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and itsadvantages, reference is now made to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencenumerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless device (such as station (STA)and/or access point (AP))/circuit configuration;

FIG. 2 illustrates NAN network clustering;

FIG. 3 illustrates exemplary NAN capable devices and exemplary operationthereof;

FIG. 4 illustrates exemplary NAN capable devices and exemplary operationthereof;

FIG. 5 illustrates exemplary flight path information and how a clustergrade can be determined;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary functional block diagram of a wirelessdevice;

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method forcluster formation; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart illustrating another exemplary method forcluster formation.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiment can apply to NAN devices, e.g., Wi-Fi Awaredevices. While the exemplary embodiments are by no means limited toWi-Fi radio or Wi-Fi Aware, Wi-Fi radio and Wi-Fi Aware are obviousapplications for this technology. Moreover, while the exemplaryembodiments will be discussed in relation to a drone environment, it isto be appreciated that the techniques disclosed herein can be applied toany Wi-Fi Aware environment including, for example, IoT (Internet ofThings) devices, or in general any neighbour aware network device(s) orWi-Fi Aware device(s).

With the advent of drones, there is a need to cluster many drones toimprove efficiency and manage communication through a cluster headrather than individual drones. A cluster head device in a Wi-Fienvironment can make decisions for one or more of the devices within acluster (a plurality of devices). Using this cluster head technique,devices within the cluster that are not the cluster head can rely on thecluster head (and/or the cluster head and associated network/cloud) toperform searching and/or make decisions. As will be discussedhereinafter, there are specific technological advantages associated withthis configuration.

Herein are disclosed various optional techniques that use “Wi-Fi Aware”(a technology from Wi-Fi for Neighbor Awareness Networking) for clusterformation in drones or wireless devices in general. Wi-Fi Aware providesthe base technology. The Wi-Fi Aware specification in its current formdoes not address forming purpose specific clusters like for dronesnavigating to a particular destination. In accordance with an exemplaryembodiment, a modified Wi-Fi Aware protocol is presented that can besuitable for such operations.

Current solutions for drone cluster formation use proprietary mechanismsand radio technologies. Using Wi-Fi Aware for this purpose can at leastreduce cost as drones can use existing radio protocols and spectrumrather than proprietary components.

The Wi-Fi Aware specification from Wi-Fi Alliance provides the basicinfrastructure for proximity detection and cluster formation. However,the Wi-Fi Aware specification does not provide algorithms or techniquesto determine/decide suitable clusters and the merging of the clusters.

One exemplary embodiment uses Wi-Fi Aware to exchange some specificinformation and specific settings to enable merging of drone clusters.In accordance with one exemplary drone-type environment, data such asflight information and other destination related details can be used formaking cluster merging decisions. Examples of destination relateddetails include time of flight, whether the drones can fly together,departure time information, arrival time information, priorityinformation and in general any data related to the device itself,payload and/or flight information. This information can optionally besupplemented or replaced with information from a server to assist withmaking the cluster merging decisions. Alternatively, or additionally,merging of clusters may be based on one or more of destinationcoordinates/priorities/capabilities of devices, etc., but are notlimited thereto. For example, drones with supersonic capabilities mightnot merge with normal drones with a higher cluster grade.

As discussed, known solutions use proprietary communication methods. Anexemplary embodiment uses Wi-Fi Aware and is based on Wi-Fi standard(s)that can be easily adopted. Wi-Fi Aware is a power efficient mechanismin itself. Utilizing one or more of the techniques discussed herein toform bigger clusters can further enhance power efficiency and powersavings in drones, drone clusters, or other devices.

Wi-Fi Aware based big clusters are more power efficient as theydistribute cluster management and communication across all devices inthe cluster. Furthermore, using a standards based Wi-Fi solution can becost efficient for drones that already have Wi-Fi chipsets.

The Wi-Fi Aware Standard can be downloaded fromwi-fi.org/discover-wi-fi/wi-fi-aware and is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety. Briefly, Wi-Fi Aware is a forthcoming updateto the ubiquitous wireless protocol that will add beacon-like featuresfor discovering and connecting to nearby devices. The protocol isdesigned to be power efficient and an always on feature.

Some Important Functional Aspects of Wi-Fi Aware

BEACONS for Device discovery (See Wi-Fi Aware NAN specification 1.0)(See FIG. 1) Below are two examples of the main API's associated withthe Wi-Fi Aware specification which can be used with the techniquesdiscussed herein.

-   -   PUBLISH API: Publish(service_name, matching_filter_tx,        matching_filter_rx, service_specific_info,        configuration_parameters)    -   SUBSCRIBE API: Subscribe(service_name, matching_filter_rx,        matching_filter_tx, service_specific_info,        configuration_parameters)

As shown in FIG. 2, a NAN device may choose to participate in more thanone NAN Cluster, e.g., to quickly discover all services offered by theNAN devices of one or more of the NAN clusters within range.

NAN Cluster Grade as specified in the standard

Each NAN Cluster shall have a Cluster Grade (CG) that, as directed bythe standard, is determined as follows:CG=2^64*A1+A2where A1 is the Master Preference of the Anchor Master of the NANCluster and A2 is the 8-octet TSF (Time Synchronization Function—See inGeneral Section 3 of the standard) value of the NAN Cluster.

The standard further specifies NAN Cluster Merging as follows:

-   -   Two NAN Clusters merge NAN Devices when one NAN Cluster        discovers the existence of another NAN Cluster and the clusters        converge into a common NAN Cluster.    -   A NAN Device that operates in a NAN Cluster shall determine the        CG of its own NAN Cluster, scan for other NAN Clusters and        determine the CGs of the discovered NAN Clusters.

An exemplary embodiment manages the enabling or disabling of thedetermination of the cluster grade (CG) to assist with mergingdecisions.

Three different techniques are proposed to make these cluster formationdecisions. A first exemplary technique operates at an application layer.A second exemplary technique operates at a protocol stack layer. A thirdexemplary technique can, for example, be hard coded, such as in a FPGA(Field Programmable Gate Array) or other circuit. Each of these varioustechniques have associated pros and cons as discussed herein.

First Technique—NAN Application Based Cluster Formation Decision

This exemplary embodiment will be discussed in relation to FIGS. 3-4 andhas the CG based cluster merging turned off by default and uses aspecific service ID to activate the CG based cluster merging feature.The exemplary technique provides an API to an application to activate ordeactivate the Wi-Fi Aware based merging.

FIGS. 3-4 include wireless devices, such as Wi-Fi Aware devices/drones204 and 224. Each respective exemplary device includes a drone serviceapplication 208/228, a discovery engine 212/232, a NAN MAC 216/234, andan IEEE 802.11 PHY 220/238. The systems 2 can optionally include one ormore servers/cloud resources 242 in communication with the device(s)204/224.

In accordance with the exemplary embodiment, each cluster of drones isprovided with a service ID (referred to as “drone_cluster”—See FIG. 3)which can be unique to the drones or the UAVs. Here, the default clustermerging mechanism based on the Cluster Grade in the Wi-Fi Aware standardmay be turned off initially.

When a drone from one cluster, e.g., 224, detects a “drone_cluster”service ID published 201 by another NAN capable device 204, theapplication layer of drone 224, based on the configuration, eitherinitiates a P2P (Peer-to-Peer) connection (See FIG. 4—301) with theother drone(s) 204 and collects service information, or directly enablesthe cluster merging based on the Cluster Grade.

Upon obtaining the service information (including, for example,information about flight path, details about merging allowed, etc.) thedrone 224 can either decide on its own if merging should be allowed withdrone 204, or drone 224 can contact a server/cloud 242 (for example overan LTE or other connection) and send this information to the server 242to let the server/cloud make the merging decision. Based on the response304 from the server 242, the drone 224 can enable merging and become apart of the bigger cluster associated with drone 204.

In this algorithm, each drone can make the decision regarding clusteringat the application level and one by one drones merge onto the cluster tomake a bigger cluster.

Exemplary advantages of this technique are that the application leveldecision for merging clusters provides flexibility and scalability fordifferent scenarios. The technique also allows for complex algorithms onthe server side to determine the merging of clusters. However, as thistechnique can be performed at the application level, it may not be aspower efficient as other techniques discussed herein.

Second Technique—Initiating Cluster Grade Merging Evaluation Based on a“Merge Allowed” Field in a Synchronization Beacon Set by the DiscoveryEngine

In accordance with this exemplary technique, a new field is introducedthat allows efficient and flexible management of the CG based mergingmechanism.

In accordance with this exemplary embodiment, a new field in the“Discovery Frame” of Wi-Fi Aware protocol is introduced. The ClusterGrade based merging algorithm can be turned on/off based on this field.Furthermore, this field can be set by the Discovery Engine of a NANdevice based on the decision to merge.

Below is the current Discover Frame format in the Wi-Fi Aware standard:

Field Size (Octets) Value (Hex) Description Category 1 0x04 IEEE 802.11Public Action Frame Action Field 1 0x09 IEEE 802.11 Public Action FrameVendor Specific OUI 3 0x50-6F-9A Wi-Fi Alliance specific OUI OUI Type 10x13 Identifying the type and version of the NAN NAN Attributes VariableVariable One or more NAN Attributes

The new Discover Frame format usable with this exemplary embodiment canbe configured as follows, although it is to be appreciated the size andname can be changed without effecting the operation thereof. Here, thenew fields, Merge Allowed and Merge Attributes are shown in bold:

Size Field (Octets) Value (Hex) Description Category 1 0x04 IEEE 802.11Public Action Frame Action Field 1 0x09 IEEE 802.11 Public Action FrameVendor Specific OUI 3 0x50-6F-9A Wi-Fi Alliance specific OUI OUI Type 10x13 Identifying the type and version of the NAN NAN Variable VariableOne or more NAN Attributes Attributes Merge 1 Variable Anchor mastersets the bit when Allowed cluster merging is allowed for entire clusterMerge Variable Variable Information Field to be used Attributes whenMerge Allowed is set

The Merge Allowed field can have, for example, a size of 1 octet with itspecifying that the anchor master, also known as cluster head, sets thebit when cluster merging is allowed for the entire cluster. The MergeAttributes field specifies that the information field is to be used whenMerge Allowed is set.

An example of Merge Attributes can be if the cluster head searches for aWi-Fi Access Point, then it can inform the entire cluster toselect/connect to the access point by setting the Merge Allowed fieldand setting Access Point Details info in the Merge Attributes field.

Another example could be in a Wi-Fi Aware cluster of mobile phones/IoTDevices, where the cluster head might search for a PLMN (Public LandMobile Network), and, if found, can set the Merge Allowed field and setPLMN information in the Merge Attributes field. This allows powersavings for entire cluster for the case of Out Of Service.

In this technique, similar to the first technique, the CG based mergingcan be disabled when a cluster is formed. This helps save power fordrones. When the CG merge is turned off, this also turns off passivescanning which saves further power in the entire cluster. However, atthis time the cluster cannot merge with another cluster. For merging,the exemplary technique allows the Cluster/Anchor Master to performpassive scanning. When the anchor master discovers a drone from anothercluster, the anchor master sets the bit “merge allowed” in theSynchronization Beacon. When the cluster members detect this bit asbeing set, the cluster members enable CG based merging and passivescanning to merge the clusters into one.

Some of the exemplary advantages of this technique are that it is morepower efficient compared to the first technique. However, the techniquerelies upon the Cluster/Anchor Master to detect and decide on whether tomerge.

Third Technique—Discovery Engine Based Cluster Formation with Pre-SetCluster Grade

In accordance with this exemplary embodiment, the technique provides anAPI for the application to set the cluster grade based on an applicationalgorithm.

In accordance with this exemplary embodiment, the cluster grade for eachdrone cluster is predefined. Once the cluster grades are decided basedon, for example, based on the route and flight path information, (or ingeneral any information associated with the cluster) the Wi-Fi Awarebased CG merging mechanism will automatically merge the lower grade pathdrones to higher grade path drones.

An example of setting up of cluster grade based on flight path is shownin FIG. 5. A simple process for this can be that the longest route hasthe highest grade and the shortest route has the smallest grade. Bydoing this, drones with the shorter path will merge to clusters with thelonger path upon detection of proximity. Here, it is assumed that theshorter path would be a subset of the longer path. Algorithms for thistechnique can be based on the route information summarized in the lowerleft-hand portion of the figure where the highest grades are associatedwith the routes of length “10.”

An exemplary advantage of this technique is that it is very powerefficient, however, it may not be as flexible as the first technique.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary hardware/functional block diagram of adevice 600, such as a wireless device, mobile device, access point (AP),station (STA), devices shown in FIGS. 3-4, or the like, that is adaptedto implement the technique(s) discussed herein.

In addition to well-known componentry (which has been omitted forclarity), the device 600 includes interconnected elements including oneor more of: one or more antennas 604 and associated antenna ports, aninterleaver/deinterleaver 608, an analog front end (AFE) 612,memory/storage/cache 616, controller/microprocessor 620, MAC circuitry632, modulator 624, demodulator 628, encoder/decoder 636, GPU 640,accelerator 648, a multiplexer/demultiplexer 644, a serviceapplication(s) 652, a discovery engine 656, a NAN MAC 660, a gradedeterminer 664, a merging manager 668 and wireless radio 610 componentssuch as a Wi-Fi/BT PHY module/circuit 680, a Wi-Fi/BT MAC module/circuit684, transmitter 668 and receiver 692. The various elements in thedevice 600 are connected by one or more links/connections 5 (not allshown, again for sake of clarity).

The device 600 can have one more antennas 604, for use in wirelesscommunications such as Wi-Fi, multi-input multi-output (MIMO)communications, multi-user multi-input multi-output (MU-MIMO)communications Bluetooth®, LTE, 4G, 5G, 60 Ghz, WiGig, mmWave systems,etc. The antenna(s) 604 can include, but are not limited to one or moreof directional antennas, omnidirectional antennas, monopoles, patchantennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas, dipoles, and any otherantenna(s) suitable for communication transmission/reception. In oneexemplary embodiment, transmission/reception using MIMO may requireparticular antenna spacing. In another exemplary embodiment, MIMOtransmission/reception can enable spatial diversity allowing fordifferent channel characteristics at each of the antennas. In yetanother embodiment, MIMO transmission/reception can be used todistribute resources to multiple users.

Antenna(s) 604 generally interact with the Analog Front End (AFE) 612,which is needed to enable the correct processing of the receivedmodulated signal and signal conditioning for a transmitted signal. TheAFE 612 can be functionally located between the antenna and a digitalbaseband system/processor in order to convert the analog signal into adigital signal for processing, and vice-versa.

The device 600 can also include a controller/microprocessor 620 incommunication with a memory/storage/cache 616. The device 600 caninteract with the memory/storage/cache 616 which may store informationand operations necessary for configuring and transmitting or receivingthe information and performing one or more portions of the techniquesdescribed herein. The memory/storage/cache 616 may also be used inconnection with the execution of application programming or instructionsby the controller/microprocessor 620, and for temporary or long termstorage of program instructions and/or data. As examples, thememory/storage/cache 620 may comprise a computer-readable device, RAM,ROM, DRAM, SDRAM, and/or other storage device(s) and media.

The controller/microprocessor 620 may comprise a general purposeprogrammable processor or controller for executing applicationprogramming or instructions related to the device 600. Furthermore, thecontroller/microprocessor 620 can cooperate with one or more otherelements in the device 600 to perform operations for configuring andtransmitting information and performing operations as described herein.The controller/microprocessor 620 may include multiple processor cores,and/or implement multiple virtual processors. Optionally, thecontroller/microprocessor 620 may include multiple physical processors.By way of example, the controller/microprocessor 620 may comprise aspecially configured Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) orother integrated circuit, a digital signal processor(s), a controller, ahardwired electronic or logic circuit, a programmable logic device orgate array, a special purpose computer, or the like.

The device 600 can further include a transmitter 668 and receiver 692which can transmit and receive signals, respectively, to and from otherwireless devices and/or access points using the one or more antennas604. Included in the device 600 circuitry is the medium access controlor MAC Circuitry 632. MAC circuitry 632 provides for controlling accessto the wireless medium. In an exemplary embodiment, the MAC circuitry632 may be arranged to contend for the wireless medium and configureframes or packets for communicating over the wireless medium.

The device 600 can also optionally contain a security module (notshown). This security module can contain information regarding but notlimited to, security parameters required to connect the device to anaccess point or other device, or vice versa, or other availablenetwork(s), and can include WEP or WPA/WPA-2 (optionally+AES and/orTKIP) security access keys, network keys, etc. As an example, the WEPsecurity access key is a security password used by Wi-Fi networks.Knowledge of this code can enable a wireless device to exchangeinformation with the access point and/or another device. The informationexchange can occur through encoded messages with the WEP access codeoften being chosen by the network administrator. WPA is an addedsecurity standard that is also used in conjunction with networkconnectivity with stronger encryption than WEP.

As shown in FIG. 6, the exemplary device 600 can also include a GPU 640,an accelerator 648, multiplexer/demultiplexer 644, a Wi-Fi/BT(Bluetooth®)/BLE (Bluetooth® Low Energy) PHY module 680 and aWi-Fi/BT/BLE MAC module 684 that at least cooperate with one or more ofthe other components as discussed herein.

In operation, an in accordance with the first exemplary technique, theCG based cluster merging is managed in the device 600 by the serviceapplication 652 turned off by default and uses a specific service IDstored in memory 616 to activate the CG based cluster merging feature asmanaged by the merging manager 668. In accordance with one exemplaryembodiment, each cluster of drones is provided with a service ID whichcan be unique to the drones or the UAVs. Here, the default clustermerging mechanism based on the Cluster Grade in the Wi-Fi Aware standardmay be turned off initially.

When a drone from one cluster, and in particular the discover engine 655detects a “drone_cluster” service ID published by another NAN capabledevice, the service application 652, based on the configuration, eitherinitiates a P2P (Peer-to-Peer) connection, with the cooperation of oneor more of the MACs, with the other drone(s) and collects serviceinformation, or directly enables the cluster merging with thecooperation of the merging manager 668 based on the Cluster Grade.

Upon the service application 652 obtaining the service information(including, for example, information about flight path, details aboutmerging allowed, etc.) the drone can either decide on its own if mergingshould be allowed with another drone, or the drone can contact aserver/cloud (for example over an LTE, 5G, or other connection) and sendthis information to the server/cloud to let the server/cloud make themerging decision. Based on a response from the server/cloud, the drone,in cooperation with the merging manager 668, can enable merging andbecome a part of the bigger cluster associated with drone.

With this exemplary technique, each drone can make the decisionregarding clustering at the application level and one by one dronesmerge onto the cluster to make a bigger cluster.

In accordance with the second technique, initiating of a cluster grademerging evaluation is based on a “merge allowed” field in asynchronization beacon set by the discovery engine 656 and managed bythe merging manager 668.

In accordance with this exemplary technique, a new field is introducedthat allows efficient and flexible management of the CG based mergingmechanism. In accordance with this exemplary embodiment, a new field inthe “Discovery Frame” is introduced as discussed herein. The ClusterGrade based merging algorithm can be turned on/off based on this field.Furthermore, this field can be set by the discovery engine 656 of a NANdevice based on the decision to merge by the merging manager 668.

In this technique, similar to the first technique, the CG based mergingcan be disabled when a cluster is formed. This helps to at least savepower for drones. When the CG merge is turned off by the merging manager668, this may also turn off passive scanning which saves further powerin the entire cluster. However, at this time the cluster cannot mergewith another cluster. For merging, the exemplary technique allows theCluster/Anchor Master to perform passive scanning. When the anchormaster discovers a drone from another cluster, the anchor master can setthe bit “merge allowed” in the Synchronization Beacon. When the clustermembers detect this bit as being set, the cluster members enable CGbased merging and passive scanning to merge the clusters into one.

In accordance with the third technique, the discovery engine 656 makescluster formation decisions based on a pre-set cluster grade as managedby the grade determiner 660. In accordance with this exemplaryembodiment, the technique provides an API for an application/gradedeterminer 660 to set the cluster grade based on, for example, anapplication algorithm.

In accordance with this exemplary embodiment, the cluster grade for eachdrone cluster is predefined and managed by the grade determiner 660 andstored in memory 616. Once the cluster grades are decided based on, forexample, based on the route and flight path information, (or in generalany information associated with the cluster) the Wi-Fi Aware based CGmerging mechanism and merging manager 668 will automatically merge thelower grade path drones to higher grade path drones. These clustergrades can be assigned, determined by the cloud/server, determined by adrone, determined by a cluster head, or the like.

An example of setting up of cluster grade based on flight path is shownin FIG. 5 as illustrated herein.

FIG. 7 outlines an exemplary method of cluster merging. Control beginsin step S700 and continues to step S704. In step S704, WiFi Awarecluster grade merging is disabled. Next, in step S708, discoveryscanning is performed. Then in step S712, a determination is madewhether a device has been discovered. If a device has been discovered,control continues to step S716, with control otherwise jumping back tostep S708.

In step S716, a determination is made whether a MAC ID or Service IDmatches a predefined mergeable drone. If there is a match, controlcontinues to step S720 with control otherwise continuing to step S732.

In step S720, cluster grade based merging is enabled. Next, in stepS724, cluster grade based merging, based on merge information and/orattributes, merges the drone/device to a discovered drone/device clusterwith control continuing to step S724 where the control sequence ends.

In step S732, a service ID is obtained as well as service informationfrom the discovered drone/device using, for example WiFi direct or othercommunication protocol(s). Next, in step S736, a determination is madewhether the service information matches a predefined configuration toenable merging to the discovered cluster. If there is a match, controlcontinues to step S724 with control otherwise continuing to step S740.

In step S740, LTE, 5G, or in general any communication protocol is usedto send service information to a server/cloud to wait for a decision onmerging. Next, in step S744, a determination about whether a merge isallowed is performed. If a merge is allowed, control continues to stepS724 with control otherwise jumping back to step S708.

FIG. 8 illustrates another exemplary method for cluster grade basedmerging. Here, control begins in step S800 and continues to step S804.In step S804, the Wi-Fi Aware cluster grade merging is disabled. Next, adetermination is made whether the device is an anchor master/clustermaster. If the device is an anchor master/cluster master controlcontinues to step S812 with control otherwise continuing to step S832.

In step S812, passive scanning is performed. next, in step S816, adetermination is made whether a device from a mergeable cluster has beendiscovered. If a device has been discovered, control continues to stepS820 with control otherwise jumping back to step S812.

In step S820, as one example, a merge allowed value is set to “yes”.next, in step S824, cluster grade based cluster merging is performedwith control continuing t step S828 where the control sequence ends.

in step S832, a determination is made whether merging has been indicatedas being allowable in, for example, a synchronization beacon. If mergingis allowed, control continues to step S824 with control otherwisejumping back to step S804.

In the detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed techniques.However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that thepresent techniques may be practiced without these specific details. Inother instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuitshave not been described in detail so as not to obscure the presentdisclosure.

Although embodiments are not limited in this regard, discussionsutilizing terms such as, for example, “processing,” “computing,”“calculating,” “determining,” “establishing”, “analysing”, “checking”,or the like, may refer to operation(s) and/or process(es) of a computer,a computing platform, a computing system, a communication system orsubsystem, or other electronic computing device, that manipulate and/ortransform data represented as physical (e.g., electronic) quantitieswithin the computer's registers and/or memories into other datasimilarly represented as physical quantities within the computer'sregisters and/or memories or other information storage medium that maystore instructions to perform operations and/or processes.

Although embodiments are not limited in this regard, the terms“plurality” and “a plurality” as used herein may include, for example,“multiple” or “two or more”. The terms “plurality” or “a plurality” maybe used throughout the specification to describe two or more components,devices, elements, units, parameters, circuits, or the like. Forexample, “a plurality of stations” may include two or more stations.

It may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words andphrases used throughout this document: the terms “include” and“comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion withoutlimitation; the term “or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases“associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivativesthereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with,interconnected with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with,couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave,juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a propertyof, or the like; and the term “controller” means any device, system orpart thereof that controls at least one operation, such a device may beimplemented in hardware, circuitry, firmware or software, or somecombination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that thefunctionality associated with any particular controller may becentralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. Definitions forcertain words and phrases are provided throughout this document andthose of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, ifnot most instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as futureuses of such defined words and phrases.

The exemplary embodiments will be described in relation tocommunications systems, as well as protocols, techniques, means andmethods for performing communications, such as in a wireless network, orin general in any communications network operating using anycommunications protocol(s). Examples of such are home or accessnetworks, wireless home networks, wireless corporate networks, and thelike. It should be appreciated however that in general, the systems,methods and techniques disclosed herein will work equally well for othertypes of communications environments, networks and/or protocols.

For purposes of explanation, numerous details are set forth in order toprovide a thorough understanding of the present techniques. It should beappreciated however that the present disclosure may be practiced in avariety of ways beyond the specific details set forth herein.Furthermore, while the exemplary embodiments illustrated herein showvarious components of the system collocated, it is to be appreciatedthat the various components of the system can be located at distantportions of a distributed network, such as a communications network,node, within a Domain Master, and/or the Internet, or within a dedicatedsecured, unsecured, and/or encrypted system and/or within a networkoperation or management device that is located inside or outside thenetwork. As an example, a Domain Master can also be used to refer to anydevice, system or module that manages and/or configures or communicateswith any one or more aspects of the network or communicationsenvironment and/or transceiver(s) and/or stations and/or access point(s)described herein.

Thus, it should be appreciated that the components of the system can becombined into one or more devices, or split between devices, such as atransceiver, an access point, a station, a Domain Master, a networkoperation or management device, a node or collocated on a particularnode of a distributed network, such as a communications network. As willbe appreciated from the following description, and for reasons ofcomputational efficiency, the components of the system can be arrangedat any location within a distributed network without affecting theoperation thereof. For example, the various components can be located ina Domain Master, a node, a domain management device, such as a MIB, anetwork operation or management device, a transceiver(s), a station, anaccess point(s), or some combination thereof. Similarly, one or more ofthe functional portions of the system could be distributed between atransceiver and an associated computing device/system.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links, includingthe communications channel(s) connecting the elements, can be wired orwireless links or any combination thereof, or any other known or laterdeveloped element(s) capable of supplying and/or communicating data toand from the connected elements. The term module as used herein canrefer to any known or later developed hardware, circuitry, software,firmware, or combination thereof, that is capable of performing thefunctionality associated with that element. The terms determine,calculate, and compute and variations thereof, as used herein are usedinterchangeable and include any type of methodology, process, technique,mathematical operational or protocol.

Moreover, while some of the exemplary embodiments described herein aredirected toward a transmitter portion of a transceiver performingcertain functions, or a receiver portion of a transceiver performingcertain functions, this disclosure is intended to include correspondingand complementary transmitter-side or receiver-side functionality,respectively, in both the same transceiver and/or anothertransceiver(s), and vice versa.

The exemplary embodiments are described in relation to enhanced GFDMcommunications. However, it should be appreciated, that in general, thesystems and methods herein will work equally well for any type ofcommunication system in any environment utilizing any one or moreprotocols including wired communications, wireless communications,powerline communications, coaxial cable communications, fiber opticcommunications, and the like.

The exemplary systems and methods are described in relation to IEEE802.11 and/or Bluetooth® and/or Bluetooth® Low Energy transceivers andassociated communication hardware, software and communication channels.However, to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure, thefollowing description omits well-known structures and devices that maybe shown in block diagram form or otherwise summarized.

Exemplary aspects are directed toward:

A clusterable wireless device comprising:

-   -   a discovery engine that disables cluster grade based merging on        the device;    -   a merging manager connected to the processor to execute a        process to determine whether to perform cluster grade based        merging for the device to another device in a cluster of        devices, the merging manager enabling cluster grade based        merging allowing the device to merge to the another device in        the cluster of devices.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process is based onwhether information matches a predefined mergeable drone.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process further comprisesdetermining whether service information matches a predefinedconfiguration for enabling the cluster merging.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein a transmitter communicatesservice information to a server and a receiver receives a mergingdecision back from the server.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process is based on mergeallowed information and/or attributes.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the merge allowed informationis a merge allowed bit in a synchronization beacon.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process includes using aspecific service identification to activate the cluster grade basedcluster merging.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the clusterable wirelessdevice is a clusterable drone, and the another device is anotherclusterable wireless device in the cluster of devices.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process causes to beinitiated initiates a Peer-to-Peer connection with the another deviceand collects the service identification, or directly enables the clustermerging based on the cluster grade.

A non-transitory information storage media having stored thereon one ormore instructions, that when executed by one or more processors, cause aclusterable wireless device to perform a method comprising:

disabling cluster grade based merging for the device;

executing a process to determine whether to perform cluster grade basedmerging for the device to another device in a cluster of devices; and

enabling cluster grade based merging allowing the device to merge to theanother device in the cluster of devices.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process is based onwhether information matches a predefined mergeable drone.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process further comprisesdetermining whether service information matches a predefinedconfiguration for enabling the cluster merging.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein a transmitter communicatesservice information to a server and a receiver receives a mergingdecision from the server.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein service information iscommunicated to a server and a merging decision is received back fromthe server.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process is based on mergeallowed information and/or attributes.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the merge allowed informationis a merge allowed bit in a synchronization beacon and/or the attributesare in the synchronization beacon.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process includes using aspecific service identification to activate the cluster grade basedcluster merging.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process causes to beinitiated a Peer-to-Peer connection with the another device and collectsservice information, or directly enables the cluster merging based onthe cluster grade.

A clusterable wireless communications device, the device comprising:

memory and processor circuitry configured to:

disable cluster grade based merging of the device;

execute a process to determine whether to perform cluster grade basedmerging for the device to another device in a cluster of devices; and

enable cluster grade based merging allowing the device to merge to theanother device in the cluster of devices.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process enhances powerefficiency and power savings in drones, drone clusters, or clusterabledevices.

A clusterable wireless device comprising:

-   -   means for disabling cluster grade based merging on the device;    -   means for executing a process to determine whether to perform        cluster grade based merging for the device to another device in        a cluster of devices, the means enabling cluster grade based        merging allowing the device to merge to the another device in        the cluster of devices.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process is based onwhether information matches a predefined mergeable drone.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process further comprisesdetermining whether service information matches a predefinedconfiguration for enabling the cluster merging.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein a transmitter communicatesservice information to a server and a receiver receives a mergingdecision back from the server.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process is based on mergeallowed information and/or attributes.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the merge allowed informationis a merge allowed bit in a synchronization beacon.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process includes using aspecific service identification to activate the cluster grade basedcluster merging.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the clusterable wirelessdevice is a clusterable drone, and the another device is anotherclusterable wireless device in the cluster of devices.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process causes to beinitiated initiates a Peer-to-Peer connection with the another deviceand collects the service identification, or directly enables the clustermerging based on the cluster grade.

A method for operating a clusterable wireless device comprising:

-   -   disabling cluster grade based merging on the device;    -   executing a process to determine whether to perform cluster        grade based merging of the device to another wireless device in        a cluster of devices; and

allowing the device to merge to the another device in the cluster ofdevices based on the determining step.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process is based onwhether information matches a predefined mergeable drone.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process further comprisesdetermining whether service information matches a predefinedconfiguration for enabling the cluster merging.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein a transmitter communicatesservice information to a server and a receiver receives a mergingdecision back from the server.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process is based on mergeallowed information and/or attributes.

One or more of the above aspects 4, wherein the merge allowedinformation is a merge allowed bit in a synchronization beacon.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process includes using aspecific service identification to activate the cluster grade basedcluster merging.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the clusterable wirelessdevice is a clusterable drone, and the another device is anotherclusterable wireless device in the cluster of devices.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the process causes to beinitiated initiates a Peer-to-Peer connection with the another deviceand collects the service identification, or directly enables the clustermerging based on the cluster grade.

A clusterable wireless drone comprising:

-   -   a processor on the drone that disables a default cluster grade        based merging for the drone;    -   a merging manager connected to the processor and a memory to        execute a merging process to determine whether to perform        cluster grade based merging for the drone to another drone in a        cluster of drones, the merging manager enabling cluster grade        based merging allowing the drone to merge to the another drone        in the cluster of drones.

One or more of the above aspects, wherein the merging into the clusterof drones allows power to be saved.

A clusterable wireless drone comprising:

-   -   a merging manager connected to a processor and a memory on the        drone to execute a merging process to determine whether to        perform cluster grade based merging for the drone to another        drone in a cluster of drones, the merging manager enabling        cluster grade based merging allowing the drone to merge to the        another drone in the cluster of drones based on the        determination.

A system on a chip (SoC) including any one or more of the above aspects.

One or more means for performing any one or more of the above aspects.

Any one or more of the aspects as substantially described herein.

For purposes of explanation, numerous details are set forth in order toprovide a thorough understanding of the present embodiments. It shouldbe appreciated however that the techniques herein may be practiced in avariety of ways beyond the specific details set forth herein.

Furthermore, while the exemplary embodiments illustrated herein show thevarious components of the system collocated, it is to be appreciatedthat the various components of the system can be located at distantportions of a distributed network, such as a communications networkand/or the Internet, or within a dedicated secure, unsecured and/orencrypted system. Thus, it should be appreciated that the components ofthe system can be combined into one or more devices, such as an accesspoint or station, or collocated on a particular node/element(s) of adistributed network, such as a telecommunications network. As will beappreciated from the following description, and for reasons ofcomputational efficiency, the components of the system can be arrangedat any location within a distributed network without affecting theoperation of the system. For example, the various components can belocated in a transceiver, an access point, a station, a managementdevice, or some combination thereof. Similarly, one or more functionalportions of the system could be distributed between a transceiver, suchas an access point(s) or station(s) and an associated computing device.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links, includingcommunications channel(s), connecting the elements (which may not be notshown) can be wired or wireless links, or any combination thereof, orany other known or later developed element(s) that is capable ofsupplying and/or communicating data and/or signals to and from theconnected elements. The term module as used herein can refer to anyknown or later developed hardware, software, firmware, or combinationthereof that is capable of performing the functionality associated withthat element. The terms determine, calculate and compute, and variationsthereof, as used herein are used interchangeably and include any type ofmethodology, process, mathematical operation or technique.

While the above-described flowcharts have been discussed in relation toa particular sequence of events, it should be appreciated that changesto this sequence can occur without materially effecting the operation ofthe embodiment(s). Additionally, the exact sequence of events need notoccur as set forth in the exemplary embodiments, but rather the stepscan be performed by one or the other transceiver in the communicationsystem provided both transceivers are aware of the technique being usedfor initialization. Additionally, the exemplary techniques illustratedherein are not limited to the specifically illustrated embodiments butcan also be utilized with the other exemplary embodiments and eachdescribed feature is individually and separately claimable.

The above-described system can be implemented on a wirelesstelecommunications device(s)/system, such an IEEE 802.11 transceiver, orthe like. Non-limiting examples of wireless protocols that can be usedwith this technology include IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g,IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11ac, IEEE 802.11ad, IEEE 802.11af, IEEE802.11ah, IEEE 802.11ai, IEEE 802.11aj, IEEE 802.11aq, IEEE 802.11ax,Wi-Fi, LTE, 4G, Bluetooth®, WirelessHD, WiGig, WiGi, 3GPP, Wireless LAN,WiMAX, and the like.

The term transceiver as used herein can refer to any device thatcomprises hardware, software, circuitry, firmware, or any combinationthereof and is capable of performing any of the methods, techniquesand/or algorithms described herein.

Additionally, the systems, methods and protocols can be implemented toimprove one or more of a special purpose computer, a programmedmicroprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuitelement(s), an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digital signalprocessor, a hard-wired electronic or logic circuit such as discreteelement circuit, a programmable logic device such as PLD, PLA, FPGA,PAL, a modem, a transmitter/receiver, any comparable means, or the like.In general, any device capable of implementing a state machine that isin turn capable of implementing the methodology illustrated herein canbenefit from the various communication methods, protocols and techniquesaccording to the disclosure provided herein.

Examples of the processors as described herein may include, but are notlimited to, at least one of Qualcomm® Snapdragon® 800 and 801, Qualcomm®Snapdragon® 610 and 615 with 4G LTE Integration and 64-bit computing,Apple® A7 processor with 64-bit architecture, Apple® M7 motioncoprocessors, Samsung® Exynos® series, the Intel® Core™ family ofprocessors, the Intel® Xeon® family of processors, the Intel® Atom™family of processors, the Intel Itanium® family of processors, Intel®Core® i5-4670K and i7-4770K 22 nm Haswell, Intel® Core® i5-3570K 22 nmIvy Bridge, the AMD® FX™ family of processors, AMD® FX-4300, FX-6300,and FX-8350 32 nm Vishera, AMD® Kaveri processors, Texas Instruments®Jacinto C6000™ automotive infotainment processors, Texas Instruments®OMAP™ automotive-grade mobile processors, ARM® Cortex™-M processors,ARM® Cortex-A and ARM926EJ-S™ processors, Broadcom® AirForceBCM4704/BCM4703 wireless networking processors, the AR7100 WirelessNetwork Processing Unit, other industry-equivalent processors, and mayperform computational functions using any known or future-developedstandard, instruction set, libraries, and/or architecture.

Furthermore, the disclosed methods may be readily implemented insoftware using object or object-oriented software developmentenvironments that provide portable source code that can be used on avariety of computer or workstation platforms. Alternatively, thedisclosed system may be implemented partially or fully in hardware usingstandard logic circuits or VLSI design. Whether software or hardware isused to implement the systems in accordance with the embodiments isdependent on the speed and/or efficiency requirements of the system, theparticular function, and the particular software or hardware systems ormicroprocessor or microcomputer systems being utilized. Thecommunication systems, methods and protocols illustrated herein can bereadily implemented in hardware and/or software using any known or laterdeveloped systems or structures, devices and/or software by those ofordinary skill in the applicable art from the functional descriptionprovided herein and with a general basic knowledge of the computer andtelecommunications arts.

Moreover, the disclosed methods may be readily implemented in softwareand/or firmware that can be stored on a storage medium to improve theperformance of: a programmed general-purpose computer with thecooperation of a controller and memory, a special purpose computer, amicroprocessor, or the like. In these instances, the systems and methodscan be implemented as program embedded on personal computer such as anapplet, JAVA® or CGI script, as a resource residing on a server orcomputer workstation, as a routine embedded in a dedicated communicationsystem or system component, or the like. The system can also beimplemented by physically incorporating the system and/or method into asoftware and/or hardware system, such as the hardware and softwaresystems of a communications transceiver.

It is therefore apparent that there has at least been provided systemsand methods for enhancing and improving communications. While theembodiments have been described in conjunction with a number ofembodiments, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications andvariations would be or are apparent to those of ordinary skill in theapplicable arts. Accordingly, this disclosure is intended to embrace allsuch alternatives, modifications, equivalents and variations that arewithin the spirit and scope of this disclosure.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A clusterable wireless device comprising: adiscovery engine that disables cluster grade based merging on the devicefor cluster-to-cluster merging; a merging manager connected to aprocessor to execute a process to determine whether to perform clustergrade based merging for the device to another device in a cluster ofdevices, the merging manager enabling cluster grade based mergingallowing the device to merge to the another device in the cluster ofdevices; and the merging manager disabling cluster grade merging andpassive scanning when the device is merged to the cluster of devices. 2.The wireless communications device of claim 1, wherein the process isbased on whether an information matches a predefined mergeable drone. 3.The wireless communications device of claim 2, wherein the processfurther comprises determining whether a service information matches apredefined configuration for enabling the cluster merging.
 4. Thewireless communications device of claim 2, wherein a transmittercommunicates service information to a server and a receiver receives amerging decision back from the server.
 5. The wireless communicationsdevice of claim 1, wherein the process is based on merge allowedinformation and/or attributes.
 6. The wireless communications device ofclaim 5, wherein the merge allowed information is a merge allowed bit ina synchronization beacon.
 7. The wireless communications device of claim1, wherein the process includes using a specific service identificationto activate the cluster grade based cluster merging.
 8. The wirelesscommunications device of claim 1, wherein the clusterable wirelessdevice is a clusterable drone, and the another device is anotherclusterable wireless device in the cluster of devices.
 9. The wirelesscommunications device of claim 7, wherein the process causes to beinitiated initiates a Peer-to-Peer connection with the another deviceand collects the service identification, or directly enables the clustermerging based on the cluster grade.
 10. A non-transitory informationstorage media having stored thereon one or more instructions, that whenexecuted by one or more processors, cause a clusterable wireless deviceto perform a method comprising: disabling cluster grade based mergingfor the device for cluster-to-cluster merging; executing a process todetermine whether to perform cluster grade based merging for the deviceto another device in a cluster of devices; enabling cluster grade basedmerging allowing the device to merge to the another device in thecluster of devices; and disabling cluster grade merging and passivescanning when the device is merged to the cluster of devices.
 11. Themedia of claim 10, wherein the process is based on whether aninformation matches a predefined mergeable drone.
 12. The media of claim11, wherein the process further comprises determining whether a serviceinformation matches a predefined configuration for enabling the clustermerging.
 13. The media of claim 12, wherein a transmitter communicatesservice information to a server and a receiver receives a mergingdecision from the server.
 14. The media of claim 10, wherein serviceinformation is communicated to a server and a merging decision isreceived back from the server.
 15. The media of claim 10, wherein theprocess is based on merge allowed information and/or attributes.
 16. Themedia of claim 15, wherein the merge allowed information is a mergeallowed bit in a synchronization beacon and/or the attributes are in thesynchronization beacon.
 17. The media claim 10, wherein the processincludes using a specific service identification to activate the clustergrade based cluster merging.
 18. The media claim 10, wherein the processcauses to be initiated a Peer-to-Peer connection with the another deviceand collects service information, or directly enables the clustermerging based on the cluster grade.
 19. A clusterable wirelesscommunications device, the device comprising: memory and processorcircuitry configured to: disable cluster grade based merging of thedevice for cluster-to-cluster merging; execute a process to determinewhether to perform cluster grade based merging for the device to anotherdevice in a cluster of devices; enable cluster grade based mergingallowing the device to merge to the another device in the cluster ofdevices; and disable cluster grade merging and passive scanning when thedevice is merged to the cluster of devices.
 20. The device of claim 19,wherein the process enhances power efficiency and power savings indrones, drone clusters, or clusterable devices.